Becky Wade's Blog, page 84

The Four Stages of Competence

People who are really good at what they do make it look easy–but usually, it’s not. Becoming truly expert at something, or even good, takes years of practice.

Wasn’t it Malcolm Gladwell who wrote that to become expert in ANYTHING requires at least 10,000 hours of purposeful practice? That’s more than one full year of doing NOTHING else–no sleeping, eating, or stretching one’s legs. And of course, that’s impossible.

The singer who can make her voice float lightly above the staff has learned how to control her voice, her breathing, and her volume. The photographer who catches the perfect shot has taken thousands of mediocre pictures. The home-run hitter has struck out more times than he can count. And the writer who spins a story that capitvates a reader has spent months editing thousands of paragraphs and pages.

Whenever you undertake the task of learning something new, you pass through four stages, the first of which is unconscious incompetence. You have a camera, and occasionally you snap a really good shot. You delight in that one picture and ignore those that aren’t so great. You don’t know what you don’t know–about the camera, composition, lighting, field of distance, and bokeh. You’re blissfully unaware of your limitations.

But if you want to master a task, you have to enter the next phase: conscious incompetence. You have to learn about the things you don’t know, and once you do, you’ll see how and why your previous efforts were either lucky accidents or off the mark. I remember when I went through a baking phase, and became determined to master the art of baking macarons–not macroons, the coconut cookies, but the French macaron, which is a bite of heaven on earth. My early efforts–before I learned how to slam the pans, not to overbeat the batter by even a single stroke, and open the oven door exactly once during the baking–were pitiful: lopsided, over or under done, flat, and freakish.

Yum! A macaron. Crispy shell, chewy center, light as air. Heaven!

The next stage is conscious competence. You have learned what to do, and you set about doing it. If you fail the first time, you try it again. You practice purposefully, learning from your mistakes. You retake photos, you edit those paragraphs, you mix up a fresh batch of macarons, you head back out to the batting cage. You know what to do, but you have to think in order to do it properly.

After spending hours and days and weeks in the conscious competence phase, you finally enter the final stage: unconscious competence. You’re an expert. You know what to do, and you do it automatically. You can play the piano without wondering where your hands are. You can sing and release your vibrato at exactly the right moment. You can hit a fastball with your eyes closed. Your macaroons come out of the oven looking just as they should. And your paragraphs require a lot less work to whip into shape.

Even in this final stage, your work is not perfect–expert writers still need editors, ovens can still fail, and home run hitters can have “off” days. Expert photographers can forget to put their camera settings back to where they should be. But those situations become rarer and rarer.

So if you want to learn something–to write, paint, sing, play a sport, build things, run a business, do public speaking–be aware that there’s always a learning curve. You will never become expert at a thing unless you put in the practice time. You may have to rest in the stage of conscious competence (that’s where I am with my photography), but you’ve learned a skill and enriched your life . . . and, hopefully, the lives of others.

I love learning. In eternity, when we’ll have heaven and a new earth to explore, I hope to become expert in foreign languages, sailing, ballet, and ice skating–just a few of the skills I know I won’t have time to master on earth. But all I need is time, and, praise the Lord, that’s what eternity offers.

What would you love to master either now or later? Whatever it is, you can do it!

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

Cover Matching Challenge + Autumn Prizes!

Autumn is my favorite season of the year. After our long, scorching summer here in Texas, Autumn arrives like a blessing and a reprieve. It’s now cool enough for me to write outside in the shade and I have high hopes that sweater weather will soon be coming around the corner!

In celebration of the season, I’ve put together a challenge and a prize pack. To enter for a chance to win, correctly match the snippets of the covers below with the corresponding Inspired by Life author.

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Match the above covers with these 10 authors:

Tamera Alexander | Robin Lee Hatcher | Angela Hunt | Julie Klassen | D’Ann Mateer | Dani Pettrey | Cara Putman | Deborah Raney | Becky Wade | Karen Witemeyer

Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

At the close of the giveaway, Rafflecopter will randomly select one winner. I’ll check to make sure that winner submitted correct answers to the cover-matching challenge, and then send her the above prizes. Happy fall y’all!

What are you looking forward to this fall? Did you find it easy or challenging to match cover snippets to authors?

When Life Throws a Curveball & Giveaway

I’m not a baseball fan, but sometimes life throws a curveball and you get to decide how to handle it.

Last week, I was ready to write the next chapter in the book due December 1st, when and event happened locally that mirrored the plot. Almost exactly. Like too much.

The next morning I texted my editor and then spent 20 minutes brainstorming with her what we needed to do. This book will get written, but not be next. It’s the absolutely write thing to do. It’s also really hard because now I have to find a plot very quickly for a book that was supposed to be due December 1st, but is now due January 1st.

Ten thousands words evaporated (not really), and I get to start from scratch.

Fortunately, I already had an idea for book two that I was excited to dive into, but there’s a mile of difference between and idea and the plot and characters that turn the idea into a fully fleshed out, page turning novel.

Isn’t this like life, though? We have a good plan…and then life happens. It’s not necessarily bad…it’s just unexpected. Or as we like to say in writing…PLOT TWIST.

God’s reminding me to stay flexible and be grateful for the deadlines.

Now for fun. As often happens, I have an extra copy of a new book and want to give it away to a reader.

I loved Toni Shiloh’s new book To Win a Prince so much, I bought an extra copy to share with you. (I also just noticed it’s on ebook sale for $4.99 right now on Amazon.) All you need to do is use the form below to log your interest and enter. Here’s more about the book.

“Shiloh has penned yet another adorable and charming royal romance!”–MELISSA FERGUSON, bestselling author of Meet Me in the Margins

Can she stop herself from falling before she’s too far gone?

As a fashion aficionado and best friend of the queen of the African island country Ọlọrọ Ilé, Iris Blakely dreams of using her talent to start a sustainable clothing line to help citizens in impoverished areas and honor the country’s resources. But when she discovers that Ekon Diallo–the man who betrayed her best friend–will be her business consultant, the battle between her desires and reality begins.

Ekon Diallo has lost everything: his princely title, his material possessions, his friends, and the respect of his fellow Ọlọrans. To pay for his actions against Ọlọrọ Ilé, he’s forced to assist the charismatic Iris Blakely–but he can’t allow his heart to distract him from regaining his status.

Though they come from vastly different worlds, Iris and Ekon are both determined to reach their goals, and the only way to do that is to work together–if they can just keep their hearts from getting in the way . . .

Toni Shiloh invites you into . . .

“A romance populated with characters you can truly root for.”–OPRAH DAILY on In Search of a Prince
“A royal journey of love, faith, and all things Africa that will leave your heart longing for more.”–VANESSA MILLER, bestselling author on In Search of a Prince

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Female Protagonists:

Do they still have to be young, pretty, and likeable?

Hi friends,

Happy Wednesday! I always look forward to my time with you.

I attended a conference last weekend, and I was the moderator on a very interesting panel on female protagonists. The subtitle was: Do they still have to be young, pretty, and likeable? To be honest, I’d never thought about it. I write about characters in their twenties to early thirties, which compared to my age (ahem the big 50) they are on the “young” side to a good portion of my readers. The women are always pretty, though in a variety of ways, and I hope they are likeable. However, the panel brought new insight.
Some of the questions we discussed, or the audience asked, were quite interesting, so I thought I’d share them with you, and I’d love to know your thoughts.

We started out discussing the difference between likable and relatable, and which the panelists thought was more important. We all agreed that our female protagonists, and really all our characters, should be relatable. The discussion then deepened as we delved into what makes a character relatable. I found this explanation and thought it was perfect:

To feel empathy and to show our character’s humanity, our characters cannot be perfect. They need to have flaws along with things they struggle and wrestle with. And, most importantly, they need to have areas of growth. Watching characters change from the beginning of a novel to the end, encourages us, and we even can find ourselves cheering the character on. So, while we all agreed our characters need to be relatable, we also concluded that the majority of the time our characters will be likable as well. I’d love to know what you think. Do you feel characters need to be relatable or likable or both?

We then discussed whether strong and brave is the new young and pretty. We looked at characters such as Katniss from The Hunger Games and Tris from the Divergent series. I personally tend to write strong female protagonists. I like to write them so they are strong in a variety of ways—physically, emotionally, and personality-wise, but I also think protagonists should have an area of vulnerability. For me that makes them real. Again, I’d love to know what you think. Do you feel that strong and brave are the new criteria for female protagonists to have?

All in all, I walked away with a new appreciation for well-written female protagonists and ways that I can help my heroines be more relatable and empathic. I’m excited to weave that into my stories.

Blessings,
Dani

Autumn Leaves

Hello friends. I hope you are enjoying October so far. I’ve been head-down busy writing lately but I am taking daily walks to enjoy the beautifully colorful foliage here in the northern US.

Some trees on my walking route.

The leaves are so pretty that I brought some home with me.

Who wore it better?

While I walk, I love to listen to audiobooks. I’m currently listening to a book by debut novelist Sara Brunsvold called The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip and really enjoying it. I thought I’d share a quote from it about leaves:

A leaf is a silent proverb. Only when it reaches the end of its time on the tree does its brilliance come through. Sometimes yellow, sometimes orange, sometimes deep red…. A leaf has the most extraordinary death. There is so much beauty to it.”

—The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip (Clara Kip to Aidyn) by Sara Brunsvold

And here’s one more leaf quote that cracked me up:

It is not everyone who has your passion for dead leaves.”

― Sense and Sensibility (Elinor Dashwood to Marianne) by Jane Austen

“Crunchy Leaves” candle and October calendar photo (taken by my friend, Suzy).

Have the leaves turned where you live? What’s your favorite thing about October?

Exploring Our Adopted State

Ken and I have lived in our adopted state of Missouri for more than three years now, but we are still in awe of all this incredible state has to offer. We’ve been traveling through the state this past week, exploring some of the wonderful state parks in Missouri. Here is just a sampling of what we’ve discovered so far.

We’ve been to Branson many times, but this was our first time to discover beautiful Top of the Rock. We took the golf cart trail around the grounds for views of rock formations and waterfalls, visited the world-class museum there, and ate at the Buffalo Bar with stunning views of the Chapel of the Ozarks and the infinity pool at sunset. We rode our bikes on the trail through the campground and caught a view of the Branson Belle steamboat, and walked through Branson Landing before settling in for the night at Table Rock State Park with a gorgeous view of the lake right behind us.

The next day we drove to Finley Farms in Ozark, Missouri. We’d had coffee at The Workshop once before but wanted to eat at the Ozark Mill there. It was delicious! Ken had Chicken and Dumplings and I ordered the catfish and we were both very happy with our choices. We walked around the grounds for a while before heading for our next campsite in Roaring River State Park. We really loved this park with seven hiking trails, a fishery, lots of fishermen to watch, and one of the deepest natural blue springs in the country.

The next night, we camped at Pomme de Terre State Park on the Pomme de Terre River, a tributary of the Osage River. Ken saw an amazing misty sunrise while I slept blissfully. I don’t mind missing a sunrise here and there if it means I’m sleeping well. And the sunsets we’ve seen certainly make up for the sunrises I’ve missed.

The next morning we headed for Harry S. Truman State Park but stopped first to ride our bikes on three up-and-back trails in Warsaw, Missouri. We really enjoyed these trails along the Osage River with plenty of bridges and other sights to keep the trail interesting.

Harry S. Truman State Park has majestic bluffs over the water and our campground was quiet and pretty with fall coming on strong! Today we begin circling around toward home. Just a few more nights of camping and our travels will come to an end for a while, but we certainly are enjoying getting to know our new state!

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

Saying Farewell

Today is a bittersweet day for me, as I’m saying good-bye here on Inspired by Life and Fiction. I’ve been a part of the blog for many years, contributing twice a month, sharing the joys and difficulties of the writing and reading life with all of you.

But after adding some new writing endeavors to my schedule this year, I realized my plate had become too full and that I needed to examine everything piling up and attempt to take a few things off. So after much thought, I’ve decided I need to let my blogging here go.

It was a hard decision since I truly have loved blogging. The blog world has always provided an outlet for me to express ideas, interact, and share news about my books.

However, the nature of blogging has also changed over recent years as other social medias have grown in importance. Nowadays, I find that I can do almost everything right in my Facebook Group in a more personal and immediate way. So if you haven’t yet joined my Reader Room, I invite you to come over and interact with me there! https://www.facebook.com/groups/jodyhedlundsreaderroom

You may be wondering who will take over my first and third Friday slots here on the blog. Well, I’m happy to report that the lovely Robin Lee Hatcher is coming back from her hiatus and will be blogging regularly again during those times. So I’m sure you won’t miss me one little bit!

Farewell, my friends. It’s been a joy to be on this journey with you here. And I look forward to connecting with you in new places!

Monarch Migration

One of my favorite things about fall is the butterfly migration that passes through Texas on its way to Mexico for the winter. I love butterflies. They are so delicate and colorful. They make me think of fairy tales. In fact, my next book release features a Texas reimagining of Snow White and has a scene that incorporates migrating monarchs.

I can remember years past when we had to slow our car to a crawl driving out to our country church to make sure we didn’t injure any of the butterflies in the cloud hovering above the road. Walking among them truly felt like stepping into a fairy paradise.

In more recent times, the butterflies have not swarmed to the same degree. I don’t know if their path changed slightly so that we are only getting the edges of the pack flying through our town or if there are fewer butterflies making the trip. Even in smaller numbers, though, they are a joy to behold.

I work at Abilene Christian University, and our Agriculture department works with our grounds crew to ensure we cultivate landscape that attracts these butterflies. As I was passing the library last week, I just had to stop and admire the view. I took this short video:

One of my favorite bookmarks to this day is the one I picked up years ago on a trip my husband and I took with our adult chorus to Vienna. We had a little free time one day and we found the Butterfly House downtown. It was filled with butterflies of all colors and varieties. We walked among them, marveling at the delicate creatures as they fluttered about their glass home.

My souvenir of choice was a bookmark purchased in the Schetterling Haus gift shop. I still use it regularly, though I do my best to treat it with care in order to preserve it’s life.

What are some of your favorite things that the start of autumn brings?